Wolverine Book 1: The Woods
by fazsalogan1010
Summary: Wolverine's origin story Book 1 of 4. Deals with Wolverine's wild side, and his first conflicts with enemies like the Black One, WenDiGo, and Van Helsing.
1. The Black One

WOLVERINE

**BOOK 1- The Woods**

Part 1- The Black One

He sniffed the air. It had a certain rank smell. Something had been killed.

The landscape of the Canadian forest was wild. Trees grew to amazing heights, snow covered everything in sight, and wildlife lurked around everywhere. It was dangerous.

The beast was covered in animal fur. It cloaked him from the sun, rain, and snow. It was his only armor. He didn't need anything else. The brown-and-white fur was smooth. He ran his hands through it often. Just enough to remind him that life had nice things in it. Other than that…there was no point to living. But he lived to survive. He survived to live. And killing was his living.

The beast stood in front of a hill. The smell was at the top. He began to climb. As he approached the top, the smell grew stronger. More smells appeared. They were surrounding him. His old pack. One of the many.

The wolves were all gray, aside from the new leader. The Black one. Its fur wasn't as soft as the others. It was coarse. It was powerful. It was as evil as the creature underneath it. The Black one stepped forward. It bared its sharp teeth. They didn't gleam in the sunlight. They were covered in blood. It had been the killer.

The beast reached the top of the hill, pretending not to notice the others. The victim of the Black one was a small doe. Its insides were strewn across the hilltop. The blood had turned the snow dark. The doe's eyes were focused and staring, its tongue was hanging out the side of its mouth, and its heart was still in place. Of course. The heart was the prize. That was clear.

The beast now transferred his attention to the pack. They were coming slowly forward, following the Black one's movements. The beast smiled. The heart would be his. He crouched low to the ground. The Black one barked at the other wolves to stand down, while he continued forward. The two enemies now faced each other, five feet spread between them. It was time.

The cold wilderness air nipped at the beast's ears. He shivered. A weakness noticed by the Black one. The beast smiled. He took off his fur armor and laid it on the ground. He didn't need it. It would slow him down.

Time froze for a moment. Everything everywhere was stuck in the moment of glory for the combatants. Birds stopped flying, bears stopped in their tracks, mice stood paralyzed. The stage was set.

Blood dripped from the Black one's fangs, making puddles of darkness on the snowy floor. It was waiting. The moment still was frozen. The beast broke the ice. He leapt forward in attack. Everything came back to life. He grabbed the Black one's neck and threw it to the ground. The Black one ripped at the beast's arm, hoping for a tear. The beast's skin was too tough, though.

The beast elbowed the Black one in the neck. Blood squirted from its mouth. It pushed the beast away. As the beast stood, the Black one tackled him and tore into his chest. The beast fell back onto one of the outward pointing rib bones of the felled doe. It punctured all the way through his chest.

The black stepped away for a moment. It seemed that the beast was finally dead. He lay there, gushing dark red blood and unmoving. The Black one had won. He stepped over the motionless body of the beast and moved toward the prize concealed in the doe. It opened its mouth and readied itself to claim its heart. Then it felt a sharp pain. And then the Black one quickly slumped over. The beast had pushed the rib bone, still sticking through his body, into the exposed belly of the Black one. The beast slowly slid the rib bone out of the Black one. He got up and ripped the bone through his chest to get it out.

The rest of the pack stood stunned. The beast had conquered the Black one. The beast lifted the Black one's lifeless corpse from the blood-stained snow and hurled it down the hill. The beast slowly looked around at the others. They would not attack.

The beast turned back to the dead doe. As the tears and holes in his body slowly disappeared, he knelt beside the creature and reached inside its open chest. The beast pulled out his prize. He looked at the heart for a moment, and then, as the rest of **_his_** pack began to howl, Logan ate it.


	2. The WenDiGo

Part 2- The Wen-Di-go

Logan sat next to his pack. He was leader once again. Logan still covered his body in fur armor, but now it was the Black one's fur. Around his neck, he wore the rib bone of the doe. The bone, over the past weeks, had been used as a weapon, tool, and things such as that.

The wolves stared at Logan, the strange beast. This man had defeated their evil leader, claimed his prize, and now led his old group. But he wasn't like them. He was different. Somehow, he was different.

The cave in which the pack lived was in an alcove under a large rock, propelling from the ground. The cave was surrounded by tall trees, covered in snow fall through early spring. The other creatures did not nest near the cave, knowing the pack's ruthlessness. Especially ruthless when the strange beast was leading them.

That particular night, food was running low. They had not had a good hunt in a week, and were growing restless. Logan realized this. There were few pups in the group, but the ones that were there were starving. It was time to find a big kill.

Logan stood. He glanced at the other hunters. They rose immeadiantley. Logan left the cave first; the rest followed after. He led them into the forest, and they traveled slowly at first.

The scene that lay before them was beautiful. It was a cold winter night. Only one beast would stay outside. The biggest kill the pack could dream of. The towering trees were skinny, so visibility was good. The forest was hardly dense. It was the perfect time.

Finally, Logan caught a scent. It was the scent of the legendary Wen-Di-Go. Logan waved the group over to a small rise in the ground. A few meters to the north was a large pile of snow. The scent was coming from underneath it.

Slowly, the pack approached. They had never encountered the beast before, and did not know how to hunt it. Logan signaled them to form a circle around it. Perhaps if they struck from all angles, they could overwhelm it. He signaled to begin.

The wolves dove at the pile, but Logan stood back. He had realized his mistake. The Wen-Di-Go would not have just laid there while the pack surrounded it. The snow was a trap. And sure enough, the only thing the wolves uncovered was a large piece of rotting flesh. The Wen-Di-Go had torn off part of its skin to lure them in.

Logan saw it first. The Wen-Di-Go leaped from a high treetop and took out three wolves in one swipe of its paw. Only seven hunters remained. Logan ordered the attack. Two wolves struck at the Wen-Di-Go's arm, but it decapitated them with a large bite. The other five stormed its feet, but it crushed three with a stomp.

Logan howled a retreating order, and the two hunters ran off with him. When they lost the monster, Logan looked the survivors in the eyes. He knew they wanted to fight, to take revenge. So he turned back.

They charged back to the Wen-Di-Go. He was ready for them. With another swipe, it sent the two hunters spiraling into a tree with a sickening thud. Logan was hit with the claws, and half his face was torn to shreds. The Wen-Di-Go grabbed him, and knocked him in the skull. Logan was unconscious.

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He opened his eyes to see that he was inside of the Wen-Di-Go's lair. The creature was about ten feet in front of him. Logan could finally focus on what the Wen-Di-Go actually looked like. It was covered in white fur from head to toe. At about15 feet tall and weighing in at somewhere near 1 ton, the monster looked formidable to Logan.

While the Wen-Di-Go ate one of the fallen hunters, Logan checked himself over. His wounds had healed, and his doe's rib was still tied around his neck. He observed the Wen-Di-Go. Its back was turned to him, so if he ran quickly…no, he wouldn't make it. Logan knew that the monster could move fast. He would have to fight.

Logan unstrung the rib bone and stood. The Wen-Di-Go sensed the movement. It put down the hunter's corpse and got up. The two now faced each other. Logan wondered how many battles he would have to win to get to what he wanted. A life. A one of peace.

The Wen-Di-Go growled. "Wendigo…" it moaned.

Logan bared his teeth. He would finish this now! He raised his rib bone to attack position. The Wen-Di-Go launched himself forward, knocking Logan backward. Logan rebounded to his feet, and shoved the rib into the Wen-Di-Go's head. The bone broke in two pieces the minute it struck.

Logan was shocked. How did that happen? The monster didn't give him time to respond. He picked him up and threw him out into the outside snow. From outside, the lair looked just looked like a huge hole in the wall of a mountain. The rock was jagged in some parts, but smooth in others.

The Wen-Di-Go ran out of the lair, and took a flying leap. Logan rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the crushing blow of its feet. He got back up to his feet in time to be hit by the Wen-Di-Go's claws once again. When Logan landed 15 feet away, blood oozed from his chest. The claws had torn a huge hole in them. It was staining the Black one's fur. That pissed him off.

Logan roared to the sky. He charged the Wen-Di-Go faster than the monster could move. He shoved both hands, knuckles first, into the Wen-Di-Go's belly. Blood spurted from the new wound in it. Logan had broken through! Next, he tore up through the belly, into the chest.

When he removed his hands from the Wen-Di-Go, Logan realized two things. One: that sprouting from each set of knuckles were three, foot-long claws. Two: the monster's heart was impaled on his right pair of claws.


	3. Memories

Part 3- Memories

Blood pored out of the holes in his knuckles. The blades of bone were pointed to the sky. Logan stared at them. Terrible creations. Evil. Who in god's name was he?

The dead Wen-Di-Go lay next to its heart on the ground. It had stopped bleeding. There was no blood left in it. The creature had been thoroughly defeated.

Logan could not believe what was happening to him. What had he become? Was he really turning into a wolf? It made him angry. Angry at hunting with animals, eating like an animal, being an animal. It made him furious. And then it came back to him.

His memories had returned…all of them…and then in a second, the clear pictures became fuzzy and distant. Logan remembered some of the details, though.

Canada had been his home. He had been raised by parents…a great, giving man named John and a mother stricken by grief named Elizabeth. She was unstable because of the death of their first son…He had had friends. Human friends. Dog was one…son of the gardener. And Rose…sweet, beautiful Rose. And then the horrible night.

Logan, regaining his senses, looked around him. No sign of any life whatsoever. Just like that night…What? What! What had happened on that night? What had happened!

"WHAT HAPPENED, GOD DAMMIT!" Logan screamed to the heavens.

His voice echoed down the mountains and hills. He stood and watched it descend downward…to a town! Below the mountain he was on was a town! Finally, he could contact humans! After…eight years! It had been eight years since he had last been in contact with a human. The anger returned.

Infuriated, Logan ripped his fur armor from his body. He grabbed the Wen-Di-Go's heart…his prize…NO! He wasn't an animal! He wrapped the heart in the fur and tucked it under his arm.

Logan sprinted down the mountainside. He slashed his claws at the trees and bushes around him, falling them like mere twigs. He annihilated everything in his way in a blind fury. He would make it to town…

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Logan woke up behind a cabin. What had happened? He must have tired himself out before, and…He had made it to town. Or at least the outskirts.

Logan entered the backyard of the cabin. There was a tree stump with an ax in it, and an ice chest. Nothing else. He went and tapped on the back door. No one answered. Logan pushed it open. It was abandoned. The only thing inside was a bed.

Outside again, Logan spotted the wrapped fur near where he had woke up. He went over and picked it up. Inside, the heart was in place. He took it out and went over to the ice chest. Logan dropped the heart into it and put some snow on top of it. He didn't know what to do with it anymore…

The fur armor now equipped once again, Logan set off toward town. It looked to be about half a mile east of the cabin. He was so excited about humanity, he ran to it.

At the entrance to the town read a sign saying:

_**WELCOME ALL TO MANDIVE**_

The town was very small. There were only a few wooden buildings around, all surrounding a town center. In the center were a tiny marketplace and a tavern. Logan headed for the tavern. He knew what it was. A place where drinks were served. Logan recalled that he liked drinks.

When he entered the tavern, a strong smell assaulted his senses. Smoke. Cigar smoke. He liked cigar smoke. Logan walked deeper into the establishment. He took a seat at the bar, smiling to himself. All of the humans…er, people…were staring at this new stranger.

"I'll have…" Logan began, "a…drink…"

The bartender glared at him. Logan started giggling. Finally, he was with his people!

"What's up with the fur coat, freak?"

Logan turned. Behind him, a crowd had gathered, with the man talking standing in front. The man was bald and had a thick mustache. The man was thin, but looked powerful. He was holding a bottle.

"We don't like strangers 'round here!" the man told Logan. Several others threw in their words of agreement.

Logan observed them all. They didn't look happy to see him. In fact, several of them looked enraged. The bald man was wobbling on his legs. Logan remembered this as a stage of absolute drunkenness.

"Well…I just wanted a drink," Logan replied.

The bald man did not like this. He took the bottle over his head and swung down. It cracked into Logan's forehead, sending blood spewing across the room. Logan hit the floor hard, and took a moment to stand up. The locals backed up at this.

"Wha-!" the bald man exclaimed as Logan's head healed itself. "What in hell are you? Some kind of monster?"

"No…no…of course not…"

The bartender pulled out a shotgun. "Get out of here!"

Logan, too frightened to say anything else, busted out the front doors. He sprinted in an erratic fashion to keep off any stragglers. Finally, he was back at the cabin. He raced through the door, and fell into a deep sleep on the bed.

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Logan stumbled out of bed. How many hours had past? That was the most horrific moment of his life. Those people had ostracized him because he was a stranger…and then tried to destroy him because he was…something else…THOSE MONSTERS! He was just a human like them! Right?

Logan left the cabin. He needed fresh air…that was all he needed. When he was about five feet out the door, a bullet penetrated his left shoulder. Logan fell to the ground. A laugh sounded from the direction of the bullet.

"Stupid freak!" the bald man yelled. "Everyone will be here soon! We'll teach you! But…maybe I should just kill you here!"

Logan looked at him, and then beyond him. A mob of people carrying knives, hammers, axes, and torches were approaching. The bald man raised his gun and put it to Logan's head.

"Hey guys!" he shouted to the mob, "Think the freak can survive a point-blank shot to the skull?"

He pulled the trigger. Logan flew five meters in the opposite direction. The bald man and the mob roared with laughter. The bald man started to walk slowly towards Logan, thinking he was dead.

As the man came nearer, Logan's memories returned again for a few brief seconds. He could remember that night now…Dog's father had…done something terrible! Logan saw himself opening the door to his mother's bedroom…and then…seeing his father John's brains blasted out of his skull. He saw Dog's father standing their triumphantly. And then Logan remembered that was when his claws appeared…he had to take revenge!

The bald man put his foot on Logan's blasted head. He grinned to the crowd…like a hero…he had killed Logan…it was history repeating itself. No, Logan thought. Not this time.

As the man laughed and threw kisses to the crowd, Logan clenched his fists._ **SNIKT! **_The bald man, so grand before, toppled over, his right leg missing. Logan stood up, head still bleeding. With a fury never witnessed before by man, he delved his now fully extended claws into the bald man. He slashed and slashed until blood spread 10 feet outward in every direction. Logan spit in the man's now disfigured face.

"YOU KILLED MY FATHER!" he screamed. "YOU…you…killed my father, so I killed you back…bub."

The mob gasped for breath. Logan faced them now. He was entering a berserk faze now. The crowd spilt up. Ten brave and stupid men with sickles stayed to face Logan, while the rest retreated to town.

Who cared what they did? He would kill them. The women, the children…he would gut them all like the animals they were. And so the wolverine began his attack.


	4. The Hunter

Part 4- The Hunter

Logan laid against the wall of the tavern. The town of Mandive was now nothing more than a graveyard. The bodies of almost every single citizen was crumpled somewhere over the landscape. Buildings were burning and crumbling…nothing left but ruins.

He had done this. He had slaughtered people until the survivors got smart and ran away. But they deserved it. They had treated him like a monster while they truly were the evil ones.

Blood flowed down his chest. Logan's black fur armor was on the ground next to him. Bullet holes were scattered throughout his body. Scrapes and bruises. But they would heal…they were healing.

What scared Logan most, though, was the fact that his claws were longer than he had thought. Fully extended, they were almost the length of his arm. Perhaps the rage he had holed up had forced them out…or the memories. Why did he always remember things before he went into a blood-thirsty rage? Why was he cursed like this?

In the distance, a figure appeared. The man was on horseback. He wore a black, tall hat and a dark cloak. Logan stood to get a better view. The man was approaching the town's barely intact sign. He stopped to read it. Then he looked at Logan.

Logan stood his ground while the man came to him.

"Who are you?" Logan asked.

"My name is Abraham Van Helsing. I am here to…or I was called to Mandive to stop a certain…threat."

"Well, I guess you can see it's already too late now. So why don't you just leave?"

"I don't know, dear sir. It seems the town is…abandoned now. But why didn't you leave?"

Logan glared at Van Helsing. "Why don't I leave? Why did they call you?"

"The town's mayor rode to me. I was out in the woods on another assignment. He was badly wounded, but before he passed on, he told me that this town was under attack…by a monster."

"And you came why, Mr. Van Helsing?"

"It's my job. I'm a hunter of…supernatural creatures."

"Well," Logan replied, "there ain't any around here no more, so be gone."

Van Helsing brushed some of his long gray hair out of his face. He had a rugged look to him. He must have been at least forty-seven years old. "I don't believe I can do that…seeing the circumstances. Why don't I just take a look around?"

Logan grunted. "Sure…do whatever you like."

Van Helsing frowned. "Are you okay? You're bleeding…"

"I will be fine." Logan began the walk back to his cabin.

Van Helsing sighed and got off his horse to investigate the scene.

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Logan rolled out of bed. The covers were now bloodstained, but it didn't really matter. He wouldn't be here much longer. He went outside.

Who would be standing near the ice chest but Van Helsing himself!

"Hello, sir," Van Helsing said calmly. "I was just trying to find you…"

Logan saw that the man was holding something behind his back. "What have you got?"

Van Helsing laughed. "Oh…nothing really…"

Logan smiled back. And then he jumped him. They rolled through the snow, until Logan pinned the older man down.

"I asked you a question, bub!" Logan snapped angrily.

"I believe I gave you an answer!" Van Helsing quickly retorted.

Logan grabbed the man's arms and swung them forward. Gripped in his left hand was the Wen-Di-Go's frozen heart.

"What could this be?" Logan asked sarcastically. He ripped the heart from Van Helsing's hand.

Van Helsing pushed Logan off of him.

"You know," Logan began as he got up, 'I should probably just kill you."

Van Helsing scoffed at this as he stood. "I'd like to see you try!"

Logan pounced, but Van Helsing was quick on his feet. Logan landed head first in the snow.

"I need that heart, sir! I was out in the woods looking for that Wen-Di-Go, and it's too dangerous for you to handle. Especially after what you probably did to that town! I'm going to have to bring you in to my superiors!"

"I didn't…do that…" Van Helsing could see right through the lie. It was pointless to even try.

"Give me the heart, lad, and hand yourself over." Van Helsing threw off his cloak and unslung a crossbow which he had had strapped to his back. "I don't want to hurt you. That heart is a curse upon mankind. Many years ago, two men were lost in these very woods. Finally, when both were starving, one decided to result to cannibalism. Too bad the other man was a sorcerer. He put a curse on him, turning him into the beast. Now, whoever eats the heart of the Wen-Di-Go also transforms!"

"Sorry, Abe. I don't believe in fairytales." Logan replied.

Logan raised the heart to his lips, grinned at Van Helsing, and took a bite. The heart was cold and hard, but his teeth easily tore through it. He chewed slowly.

Van Helsing backed away. "You fool! I hope you know what you are going to set loose!"

Logan swallowed and took another bite.

Van Helsing swore. He leveled the crossbow at Logan. "Sorry, son," was all he could manage before he launched an arrow into Logan.

Logan's limp body fell forward. The arrow had flown right through his chest and into a nearby tree. Van Helsing sighed. And then the wound began to close.

"That ain't gonna work!" Logan screamed.

"What are you!" Van Helsing asked in horror.

Logan began to answer, but then his back arched up into the air. He screamed out in agony.

"And so it begins…" Van Helsing muttered.

Within moments, Logan was covered in white hair, grown to fifteen feet, and gained a lot of body mass. He was the Wen-Di-Go!

He hit Van Helsing and the man flew backwards. Van Helsing was now backed against the cabin. The new Wen-Di-Go approached slowly.

"So this is it, huh? You're going to let the inner beast control you? You've lost your battle, boy. You're nothing now…just a real monster. You've become what you hate." Van Helsing closed his eyes and waited.

Just as the Wen-Di-Go raised its right fist to the air, ready to smash the puny man below him, its eyes widened. Three one-and-a-half foot claws ripped through its knuckles. Three more came out of the other hand. They tore through the hands and stabbed into the creature's chest.

Soon, the Wen-Di-Go's chest was torn open, and a man's body was visible. The claws kept tearing, until they reached the head. The claws ripped through the face and Logan's head popped through the hole. He was screaming and fighting with every ounce of his sane mind.

Finally, Logan fell out of the Wen-Di-Go, but their hearts were still attached. A long, stretchy strand of cardiac muscle was still connecting the two. Logan slashed at the strand until it broke, and kept dicing it to pieces. The man had separated from the beast. Finally.

As Logan's body lay lifeless in the snow, Van Helsing rose and went over to the remains of the Wen-Di-Go. The heart was no more. The curse had been stopped.

"The Wen-Di-Go's reign has ended…" Van Helsing looked to Logan's body. He wasn't sure if it was alive. Logically, he was dead, but…he smiled. "But your reign is just beginning, boy."

Van Helsing trotted back to the destroyed Mandive. He got back on his horse. With one last look to the cabin in the distance, he left.

The rips and holes in Logan's body began to heal. The memories had flooded back during the rage. He knew who he was…his name.

His heart was still in place…of course. The prize. NOOOO!

Logan stared to the sky. He yelled, "MY NAME IS JAMES HOWLETT! AND I AM HUMAN!"

_**Stay tuned for Wolverine Book 2: Japan!**_


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